COVID-19 update: 71-year-old Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus

LONDON: 71-year-old Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth II, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Clarence house said in a statement:

“The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus. He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.

"The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. In accordance with government and medical advice, the Prince and the Duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland. The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing.

“It is not possible to ascertain from whom the Prince Charles caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a 21-day-long complete lock-down for the entire country till April 14 to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The lock-down will come into effect from 12am tonight. In his second address on the unprecedented menace, the Prime Minister said that all people should obey the government’s instruction for their own safety. Otherwise, the country will move backwards by 21 years, he warned. Citing the crises currently faced by Italy and the USA due to the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus Modi said, “I appeal to all our citizens with folded hands not to come out from their homes as the situation is very very alarming. We will fight against the pandemic and win against it. But for that your co-operation is necessary. We must break the virus chain.”

The PM addressed the nation at 8 pm on Tuesday for the second time on the pandemic. On Thursday last week, he addressed the nation on the issue for the first time. He addressed the nation for the second time when the coronavirus pandemic claimed the lives of 10 people and infected more than five hundred people across the country. In a serious tone, the PM said that all people except those who are employed in emergency services like health-care, media, police, fire etc., should stay indoors till April 14,2020 to help contain the outbreak of the dreaded virus. “Everybody should act responsibly. The future of the country depends on you. You may treat the lock-down as a curfew,” he added.

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